Most Underrated Prospect: Trevon Ellis

Even after a summer where he continually made teammates better, contributed to a successful July for Hidden Gems Black, and impacted the game in various ways, Trevon Ellis is still the Most Underrated Prospect in Ohio for the 2018 grassroots season.

Across the Ohio scouting world, including on this website, Ellis’ name has been applauded far too seldom. The 6’3” prospect from Dayton Stivers simply does so much to contribute on the court, including scoring efficiently, rebounding extremely well for a guard, making the extra pass, and holding his own defensively.

“He is not a robot at all out there,” Brown said. “If somebody is over-playing, he knows to go backdoor. If somebody doesn’t know the set, he knows what to do. I think he throws the bounce pass 90 percent of the time. … His IQ is just off the charts. He’s just a big-time player — not afraid of the moment, not afraid of the name on the jersey.”

Maybe part of his underrated nature is the fact that he had to switch teams twice this season. But it wasn’t the normal story of a kid changing AAU teams. He began with the Cincy Lakers, who disbanded after one of the first weekends in the spring. Without a team, he jumped over to All Ohio Black 17U for one weekend. Then, he found himself on Hidden Gems Black in July, where they collected two first place finishes and had a record of 16-5 with Ellis.

“He’s a great teammate,” Brown said. “It’s funny, after the first tourney, Cali [Davis] was like, is Tre playing with us for the rest of the summer?”

“It even speaks volumes of his character when the parents said he was a good fit after the first tournament.”

Going into the grassroots season, Ellis established himself as a must-see prospect for us with his junior season averages of 10.5 points, 6.0 assists (Dayton City League leader), 6.0 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game. From our first time watching him back at the Bearcat Classic, Ellis validated that stat-line with his do-it-all game.

He just makes winning basketball plays that help the team win.

“I think it starts with his confidence. I think [teammates] feed off that confidence in knowing his ability that he can play,” Brown said. “I know what I can get from Tre. I know he’s going to lock-down on defense. I know he’s going to box out. I know he’s going to push the ball … And then when you play hard like he does, that just makes the other guys want to come with him,” Brown said.

Ellis’ name may not be floating around college coaching offices as much as it should be right now. However, with a 3.9 GPA, 26 score on the ACT, the basketball IQ to match, and a solid 6’3” frame, his 17U summer is one we’re looking forward to.

The only piece of his game yet to come along is the 3-point jumper. Ellis routinely knocks down mid-range jumpers off of his hesitation dribble move. He’s always in attack mode towards the rim, so he’s hardly ever shooting it from deep. Regardless, his range is about 18 feet right now, and he hits it with consistency. If he can back that up two feet by next summer, there will be very few holes in his game.